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Apr 28, 2024

Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.8

Organization 4.2

Spectators 4.4

Number of comments: 481 [displaying comments 41 to 51]

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R. P. from Fort Lauderdale, FL (4/30/2012) "HILLS and poorly planned Expo" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 First of all you must be there by 7pm on Friday to get your race number. Don't underestimate traffic in Nashville. It took about 2 hours to get from interstate to convention center (maybe 2 miles). I would have run it if I knew it was that close =). By the time the 300 or so of us got through getting our numbers (many more were coming in the door after 7) the Expo was closed. Our race t-shirts were also out and they plan to mail then. Now let's talk course. WOW it was almost all hills! Don't let the elevation map tell you differently. There were even some pretty intense little hills after mile 25! I mean I dig a few hills but this was ridiculous. Best design of the course was that after the last turn you can see the finish line. Temperature was a real problem. It was hot! Got up to about 86 that day and sunny. It was already around 70 at the start. I've heard that years past it was stormy and even chilly. Unpredictable at best. There was also a lot of pollen. After about mile 10 when the 1/2 and full split the full route was very sunny and not a lot of shade (except for a few fantastic places). They did have a bunch of cooling stations of sprinklers which were awesome though! Water stations were adequate, Bands were decent, fruit snacks were good, Gu only consisted of non-caffeine of what I saw. The crowds however are amazing! More than I've ever seen. The People of Nashville are so great that would be the reason to make me run it again. It seemed to be quite the social event to watch the runners. Bottom line do it if you want the challenge but be prepared.
Mark Logan from Prairie Village, KS (4/29/2012) "Great Race. Hot and Somewhat Hilly" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my fifth full marathon, and I enjoyed it very much. Great organization. They really handled the 30,000+ runners very smoothly. The first half was quite crowded with all the half marathoners. It would have been nice, frankly, to split the full marathoners out earlier in the race. The second half was tough. It got hot quickly this year, and the course is a little hillier than the elevation chart would lead you to believe. Many people seemed to be walking good chunks of the last six miles. The course was incredibly well-staffed with lots of medical personnel, well-timed water stations and an abundantly stocked recovery area.
s. p. from arkanasas (4/29/2012) "for the finisher in the back of pack" (about: 2012) First Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first full marathon and I have done 3 halfs. Yes, the course was hilly and the temp was hot. I live where its hilly and trained on hills . I was not prepared for all the hills in the route. Also, I think that everyone should have the same treatment where you cross with the front pack or the last. I was with the last pack when I got to finish line there was nothing for us except water, we didn't get none of the special treatment. Very discouraging!
B. T. from Warner Robins, GA (12/8/2011) "Had a Fine Time" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Rolling hills? Yup. 2nd half was quite uneventful. Great crowd at the start. Very well organized. Thank you to all the spectators, police, medical personnel, and volunteers!
D. E. from Birmingham, AL (8/1/2011) "Run the Half, Avoid the Full Marathon" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I've run lots of races, including a few triathlons and half-marathons. This was my first marathon. I had a rough winter with injuries so I wasn't in my best condition but I was hoping to break 4:30. With the heat, I finished in 4:44, so I think I was right in the middle of the pack. The shortest comment I have is to run the half-marathon and avoid the full marathon. Good: -Packet pickup was rather painless and the expo was not bad. -There were plenty of bathrooms in the morning. -The corrals seemed well organized and we didn't have any issues getting out the gate. -The first half of the race winds through town and is beautiful. -The bands were further apart than I expected but they were rocking out and there were lots of spectators for the first half. -The volunteers were awesome and the water and GU stations were well stocked the first half of the race. -I can't thank the people in their yards with water hoses enough. Bad: -The back half of the race course is terrible. Parts go through industrial areas or main roads past car dealerships. -I'm from Birmingham and I was prepared for a hilly race but the elevation map does not prepare you for how hilly this race can be at times. The rolling hills near the end have very little shade and combined with the heat were especially brutal. -The back half of the race had far fewer spectators and the bands seemed further apart (I think some of them actually left early). Half of the bands weren't playing when we went by. -I said before the volunteers were great but the water stations were sometimes too far apart, especially towards the end. -The Cytomax actually ran out for my friends who were running a 5:00 pace. They just had to drink water the last few stations and I think one station was actually packed up to go. -GU stations had plenty of supply but there were very few stations. I ended up trying to grab a few GUs to ration out but a volunteer scolded me for taking two GUs from her at the second station. -The bags and shirts were really underwhelming considering the cost of the race. I might just have unrealistic expectations since triathlon bags are usually packed but I've been in races that cost half as much where they at least give you a power bar or something. These were basically empty besides some ads for other races and those pineapple gel candies that are so bad. -The shirts were technical but also dark colored and cheap feeling. I had to stop wearing it in summer because the dark blue soaks up the sun and the shirt gets really scratchy. One of the worst race shirts I've gotten that was not actually cotton. -They handed me a medal when I crossed the line, which is totally awesome, but I would have traded 100 like it for 1 bottle of water. I know they don't want people lingering at the finish but water was way too far away, around a corner about 50 yards away. Overall, I just expected a lot more considering how expensive the race was and how big the Rock 'N Roll brand is. Disappointing but not really their fault: -The weather has been mentioned. I don't think I'll do a race this late in the season again (April 30). The last 6 miles is going to be rough anyway but combined with the heat and the rolling hills, people were dropping like flies. -I (and the 4 others with me) don't care for Cytomax and it is all Rock 'N Roll races provide. Since it actually bothers some of our stomachs, we've talked about carrying a drink belt or something next Rock 'N Roll. -The icing on the cake was that the local news that night had a quick report on the Country Music Marathon from the finish line. They interviewed a half-marathoner and that was it. They didn't show footage of the winners or even appear to bother staying for the end of the full marathon. Even the news ignored the full marathon :( If it's not obvious, what I took away from this race is that the half-marathon is a beautiful and well supported race in every way. The full marathon seems just bolted on and was very disappointing. Of the 8 people I know that have run the full marathon here before, none of them will run this race again.
M. B. from Hudsonville MI (5/8/2011) "Great Organization!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and I will be back for more. The course was a little hillier than I expected, but they can't all be flat. Turned out to be a warm day butI finished well, all things considered. Bands every mile, plenty of water and GU stops, and lots of food at the finish. Great group of volunteers. I had an unfortunate incident about an hour after finishing, and help and an ambulance were there within minutes.
T. D. from Birmingham, AL (5/5/2011) "Pleased" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I felt this was a good marathon. The expo was excellently ran. For so many people, it ran smoothly and efficiently. The course was very hilly, which is expected since it located in the foothills of the Appalachians. The only things I would change for this marathon is that there were no water stops between miles 20 and 25. At that point we are all needing water. They ran out of cytomax at the end of the race. Also on their website they post 50 degrees as the beginning temp and 60s at the end. It was about 85 degrees and that is pretty much the normal down here in the south at that time of the year so expect it to be hot. I would run it again if I got the opportunity. The spectators were great.
j. m. from TN (5/4/2011) "Tough course, hilly" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This race is your typical Competitor event. So the organization is fine, and the production level top-notch. The course is slow; it's just plain hilly, from mile 1 to mile 25 (rolling hills). Late April in TN is a complete crapshoot weather-wise. This year it was reasonable and that was the main reason I enjoyed the race.
T. W. from Woodstock, GA (5/3/2011) "Beer station on the course!" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The first half of the course was better than the second half in terms of scenery. You run through some pretty neat areas early in the marathon. Water stations were great and the volunteers were better than most (first time I'd seen a beer station at a race, and mile 22 was a great place for it too). I thought the spectators were also pretty great and Nashville is a fun city with plenty to see. Downtown area was nice to walk around after the expo. Race packet pickup was very good but I was sort of disappointed in the expo overall. Plenty of port-o-potties at the start but they could have had more on the course. Extremely disappointed in the corrals and lack of structure. About a third of the runners in the starting corrals were in the wrong one - in some cases 10 corrals up!! Makes for an awful start running behind people who have no business starting up front. Shirt was sub-par but medal was very nice. Worth the price of admission.
B. P. from Jackson Ms (5/2/2011) "Lots of fun. Tough, first, full marathon." (about: 2011) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was a great time for a first marathon. Course was extremely tough, but I knew that going into it. I thought there needed to be more water stations, especially on the second half of the course. I can't wait to come back next year.

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